


I Thought You Were Straight

by TyrusStillLives



Series: Tyrus Week 2019 [1]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Coming Out, Cuddling, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Roommates, kinda i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-25
Updated: 2019-05-25
Packaged: 2020-03-17 12:20:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18965128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TyrusStillLives/pseuds/TyrusStillLives
Summary: Cyrus and T.J. are random college roommates. Cyrus is out and proud, but T.J. says he's straight.





	I Thought You Were Straight

Cyrus had seriously almost reconsidered putting up his pride flag in his dorm. He is rooming with a random roommate that he's only exchanged a few texts with. From his Instagram, he knows his roommate is an athlete which is historically not great for a gay man like himself. After discussions with Andi, he determined that he wants to be free to be himself. He will take the backlash that may come with it. It doesn’t stop him from freaking out a bit when his roommate walks in. From his pictures, Cyrus knew he was going to be attracted to T.J. He’s still surprised, however, when the man walks into their dorm for the first time. He is wearing large glasses and his hair is messily flopping with every motion, a single curl in particular hanging in front of his face. His clothes are…interesting, but Cyrus has to applaud the ability to pull off a short sleeve hooded flannel. He can’t help the thought that what he’s wearing is kinda gay, but he quickly squashes the hope so he can have a productive human interaction.

“Cyrus, right?” T.J. asks. An easy confidence radiates off of him as he extends his hand. “I’m T.J.”

“Yeah,” Cyrus says, on the verge of drooling at his beauty. “I mean yes. Sorry. I am Cyrus. The one and only. God, I’m so sorry I said that. I’m not great at social interaction.”

“It’s okay,” T.J. says with a kind smirk. He almost looks shy, but Cyrus doesn’t believe his eyes. “I totally understand.”

“Says the athlete with boundless confidence.”

“Woah stereotypes.” T.J. throws his hands up in mock offense. “I’m not the cocky jerk you may think I am.”

Cyrus laughs and turns back to organizing his under-bed storage. T.J. drags a suitcase and lifts it effortlessly onto his raised bed. Cyrus has to keep himself from staring for too long. After a couple minutes of slightly uncomfortable silence, Cyrus is broken out of his organizational trance by T.J.’s enthusiastic voice.

“I like the flag!”

“Oh thanks,” Cyrus responds, taken aback by T.J.’s acknowledgement of it. He was mostly expecting (and kind of hoping) that he would ignore its existence, but of course nothing ever goes as planned. “I was certainly hoping you weren’t one of those bible thumping people. That would be bad for my gay ass.”

“My dad is one of them,” he admits, “But I’m not an asshole.”

“I’m sorry,” Cyrus says, questioning whether that was an appropriate response.

“It’s okay,” T.J. says. “I’m not…I’m straight. My sister’s a lesbian though, so that was not good for her.” The way he says it makes him sound almost too defensive, but Cyrus knows not to push anything.

“Well, thanks for being an ally.”

T.J. smiles back at him, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Something tells Cyrus that he has a strained relationship with his father. He wants to ask if his sister and he are close, but he doesn’t know if that’s invasive. He decides to let the subject rest for now. Maybe later they’ll be close enough to have that conversation.

——————

T.J. never expected that he and Cyrus would become such close friends. They always went to the dining hall together. They studied together for the classes they both had. They stayed up late involved in deep conversations about their personal lives and political issues. They hung out with each other’s individual friend groups. He and Buffy bumped against each other at first, but now they are “total bros” in the words of Cyrus. T.J. feels so comfortable around Cyrus. For the first time in his life, he doesn’t feel like he needs to put up a wall and hide his true self…almost. Despite their intimate friendship, T.J. doesn’t know what to do when Cyrus walks into their room in near tears. T.J. immediately feels like he’s walking on eggshells as he debates whether or not he should move towards the boy.

“Are you okay?” T.J. says cautiously, “I thought you had a date tonight.”

Cyrus doesn’t respond. He simply breaks into tears. T.J.’s instinct takes over and he envelops the smaller man in a tight, comforting hug. Cyrus buries his head in T.J.’s chest as his body shakes with sobs.

“He was seeing someone else. What did I do wrong?”

“Cyrus,” T.J. says, pulling slightly away and making the broken man look up at him with his red, tear-swollen eyes, “It has nothing to do with anything you did.”

“How do you know that?”

“Listen, Cyrus,” T.J. says, “You are an incredible person. He is an idiot if he can’t see how amazing you are. You deserve someone who appreciates you and understands how amazingly lucky they are to have you.”

“Thanks T.J.” Cyrus offers him a weak smile as he looks up with his shimmering brown doe-eyes. T.J. is overcome by a fluttering in his chest. This is what people mean when they talk about feeling butterflies in their chest in the presence of their crush. T.J.’s never allowed himself to feel and recognize that feeling, and he’s terrified of how vulnerable he is in this moment. He steps away from the boy after a bit too long of a time spent gazing into Cyrus’s eyes. He wants to leave, but he makes a rash decision to stay and support Cyrus, despite his mind telling him to run. He slides off his shoes and pulls his phone out of his pocket to text his friends.

“What are you doing?” Cyrus questions, cocking his head to the side.

“I’ll just tell my friends that I can’t go out,” T.J. explains as he types. “What movie do you want to watch?”

“You don’t have to do that,” Cyrus says, sitting on his bed. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“Oh please! I hate going to these parties anyway. It’s nice to have an excuse.”

Cyrus pauses before saying, “Do you mind if we watch something gay?” T.J. could almost die at the adorable smirk on his face.

“Not in the slightest,” T.J. says, handing Cyrus his open laptop, “Whatever you want to watch.” Cyrus props himself up by his pillows and scoots over to give T.J. space. The man slides onto Cyrus’s bed and scoots close to him. Despite his mind yelling at him to keep a normal distance from the boy, he enjoys the warmth radiating off of his roommate. Cyrus doesn’t seem to mind because he leans into T.J.’s close proximity and he wills his heart to stop beating erratically. Halfway through the movie, T.J. feels a pins and needle sensation in his arm. He attempts to discreetly get rid of it, but Cyrus is too perceptive. He grabs T.J.’s arm and places it around his shoulders with a glance asking for permission. T.J. forces his head to nod in acceptance with this newfound intimacy. Cyrus and T.J. don’t exactly have the epitome of a “bro-like” friendship, but this is a new level of closeness. That’s why his heart skips a beat when he feels Cyrus’s head drop onto his shoulder. T.J. freezes before looking over and seeing the dark haired man sleeping soundly. It doesn’t take long for T.J. to follow suit, and he feels a buzzing kind of contentment that he’s never felt before.

—————

When T.J. wakes up the next morning, he is still in Cyrus’s bed, but he doesn’t have the warmth of another body. Cyrus is sitting at his desk hunched over a notebook and an open textbook.

“Sorry, I fell asleep on you,” Cyrus mumbles.

“I don’t mind,” T.J. says groggily. He slides out of bed and pulls on his shoes, half-heartedly fixing his hair in the mirror.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to breakfast,” T.J. responds almost to himself.

“Can’t you wait for me?” He begins to put on his shoes and socks as T.J. pulls on a hoodie.

“I kind of want to be alone.”

“T.J.,” Cyrus pleads, his voice straining as if he’s about to cry, “I’m really sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“It’s fine,” T.J. says a bit too aggressively, “It’s not that.”

“Really?” Cyrus questions, “We always go get breakfast together, and all of a sudden you want to be away from me. I get it.”

“No, you don’t. It’s nothing,” T.J. yells, “Nothing even happened. We just…we just cuddled a bit. It was nothing. It’s fine.” He knows that he’s really only trying to convince himself, but it doesn’t help him from spewing his word vomit.

“T.J., what is wrong?”

T.J. pauses. He doesn’t really have an answer. Well, he does, but it scares him to death. He makes the mistake of looking into his roommate’s pleading eyes. He is reminded of just how radiant, just how beautiful and attractive Cyrus is. He needs Cyrus, but he can’t. He tells himself it’s not okay.

“Nothing. I just…”

“You just…what?” Cyrus prompts

All of a sudden, T.J. decides he’s done with listening to his head. He lurches forward and kisses Cyrus on the lips. In the moment, he thinks he’s gone to heaven, but he quickly pulls away because Cyrus seems to stiffen against him.

“I am so sorry,” T.J. says, unsure if he really means it.

Cyrus simply smiles and pulls T.J. back in. He kisses Cyrus as if he is a necessity in his life. The butterflies take over his heart and spread throughout his body. He is truly in heaven. When he finally gets a chance to catch his breath, he looks into Cyrus’s hungry eyes.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Cyrus says, still unable to catch his breath.

T.J. thinks he does have an idea. Because he thinks he’s been wanting it for so long too, however subconsciously. T.J. wraps his arms around the boy and gives him a slow, tender kiss.

“I thought you were straight,” Cyrus says. “Please promise me this is real.”

“I promise that I am absolutely not straight,” T.J. says, pulling the man into a hug. He feels Cyrus’s laughter into his chest and his heart flutters with a joy he’s never felt before. He moves his hand to run his fingers through Cyrus’s dark hair.

“Let’s go get breakfast,” T.J. says pulling away from Cyrus to slip on a hoodie. “Where ever you want.”

“We should go to that cute cafe!”

“Absolutely!” T.J. responds. He truly doesn’t care where they go as long as he’s with Cyrus.

Once Cyrus gets ready, T.J. extends his hand to him.

“Are you sure?” Cyrus questions.

“Yeah…only if you are.”

“Yeah, yeah totally.” Cyrus interlocks their fingers and leads T.J. out the door. Leading him into a new world. He’s both terrified and excited.


End file.
